own unique backgrounds, and still manage to preserve their own culture. Declaring English the national language would not create a momentous disaster. In fact, according to a recent study provided by the Center for Immigration Studies, fourteen percent of Americans speak a language other than English at home. However, ninety-eight percent of Americans declared that they could speak English “very well” or “well.” The Unites States has tried to declare English the national language before. On August 1, 1996, the House of Representatives voted 259-169 to declare English the official language (Baustein and Epstein). The Senate, however, never acted upon the bill. The states themselves have taken action. Currently, twenty-two states have declared English their official language. Those states still use other languages when necessary. Declaring English the national language would also save the country money. Since the United States does not have an official language, it is necessary to spend excess amounts of money creating signs and providing services in different languages. In fact, the financial burden of language “assistance” by the government is enormous. In addition to the ten billion dollars the government pays annually for bilingual education, governments spend millions to provide translations and other bilingual services. New Jersey alone spent $922,000 in 1998 on court translator fees (Samborn). Obviously, some bilingual services will still remain intact. Certain exceptions would be made. For one, bilingual education will still exist, but it would force English upon students at a very young age, and therefore would only be required in early education. Government services would standardly operate in primarily English, but government employees would still be able to provide informal assistance and direction in any language they feel appropriate. Also, such services such as the “911” emerg...
